The Imperial Palace's Underground Secret Tunnel

Nimrod gave orders to the Astropath, commanding the Third Legion and 8th Legion to explore eastward from the northeast and southeast of Vostonia, respectively, on the Galaxy star map.

He was then accompanied by two members of the Honor Guard, Hollis from the First Chapter and Bradshaw from the 11th Chapter.

Two Shadow of Order are key targets of the Primarch's investigation; they are the candidates to be sent to the Luna.

Nimrod walked back and forth along the path in the courtyard near the lake, his eyes searching the lakeside from both a natural and a supernatural perspective.

Finally, on the second lap, the Primarch sensed something different in the environment, something abrupt and somewhat discordant.

Even he had to make repeated comparisons to discover that one slight difference.

Nimrod took a step forward, heading towards that point of incongruity, and entered the unnatural passage.

Two Shadow of Order followed the Primarch, feeling as if they were walking through a Water Curtain.

The intense scent of the lake, the smell of damp rocks, and the cold air were all left behind in an instant, as if they had stepped into another dimension.

They looked around in surprise, and Hollis, carrying Bolter on his back and Power Sword at his waist, said with doubt.

"We didn't even realize it before."

"These tunnels were not formed naturally; they were not shaped by orogenic movements or plate compression."

Inherited from the Primarch, they possess superhuman sensory abilities, which should allow them to sense things from miles away, yet they felt nothing the moment they stepped into this place.

"It's not surprising that you didn't find it; even the Primarch might not have been able to discover this place."

Bradshaw glanced around and asked curiously.

"Was this built by the Emperor?"

"No, this tunnel was likely built by the Cold Ones using their amazing technology, but the Emperor has placed Psionic Energy barrier here."

The two Shadow of Order immediately stopped dwelling on it. They curiously reached out and gently stroked the tiled wall that was flashing with an eerie light, examining the faint bioluminescence emanating from it.

They looked up again, where the light from the dark lakebed, like shadows on the seabed, rippled across the wide cave ceiling adorned with countless stalactites.

Crystal-like lines meandered and shimmered in the rock crevices overhead, resembling distant starlight, a stark contrast to the landscape of Terra below.

Two Shadow of Order, shrouded in a hazy, dreamlike state, were lost in the bizarre beauty.

Their pupils dilated as they stared intently at the crystal above them, as if something captivating within it had gripped their eyes and senses.

Nimrod noticed that they seemed to be moving in slow motion, lifting their legs and landing...

Every movement became unusually slow.

The Primarch looked up and sensed the supernatural allure emanating from the shimmering crystals arranged by the Cold Ones.

He did not use his Psionic Energy to help his two offspring regain consciousness, not because of Psionic Energy restrictions.

The Psionic Energy restrictions the Emperor placed here have a great suppressive effect on ordinary Psyker, and even the Thousand Sons, but they cannot suppress a Primarch.

He was able to infuse his spiritual power to help his two offspring, but he did not do so.

This is your final test: can you use your willpower to overcome the allure of your senses?

Countless strange lights and shadows flickered in the black eyes of the two Shadow of Order shrouded in shadow, as if they had entered another world.

They were so engrossed in the scene that they lost track of time.

Suddenly, a thought simultaneously crossed their minds, "We have been chosen to serve as the Primarch's honorary protectors on the journey to and from Terra."

Where is the Primarch?

The two panicked Shadow of Order of order suddenly snapped back to their senses, as if a mirror had shattered before their eyes.

"I..."

"You have overcome your senses with your will."

Hearing the praise from the Primarch, the two Shadow of Order straightened their backs and followed Nimrod forward.

Having nearly fallen into a hallucinatory state, they are highly vigilant, constantly reminding themselves of this.

The further the two Shadow of Order went, the more they felt how difficult it was to find the right path in the network of tunnels beneath the lake.

Each passage seemed to be in a strange state, and their senses could not distinguish the differences between each tunnel.

They look completely different, yet they seem to be the same.

They could only follow the Primarch, and they had no doubt that the Primarch could find the right path out of this bizarre labyrinth.

Nimrod suddenly stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on the unassuming fluorescent green stone on the ground beside the tiled wall, which shimmered with a Spirituality light.

[Cold Stone? Corpse Collector's corresponding Sequence 8 "Gravedigger" auxiliary material.]

The Primarch bent down and picked up an oval-shaped stone about the size of a normal person's palm.

Nimrod never expected that his impulsive decision to explore the underground labyrinth of the Imperial Palace and head to the Grand Observatory would actually lead him to find the ingredients for a magic potion.

He looked around and found that these fluorescent green stones were neither part of the tunnel network built by the Cold Ones, nor did they have the patterns of the Old Man in Yellow's Psionic Energy restriction.

Removing these Cold Stones will have no effect.

As Nimrod pondered, the two Shadow of Order naturally stopped in their tracks.

Knowing the Primarch, they also bent down and began to pick up the Cold Stone.

The Primarch continued forward, the route clearly laid out in his mind; the Cold Ones's supernatural construction techniques could not interfere with his senses.

He led his two sons out of the tunnel and stood on a set of steps. Before him was a wide road, lined with Silver Birch and Platanus.

Nimrod surveyed his surroundings. The Grand Observatory stood atop a protruding black rock base, its sheer scale a marvel of ancient Terra architecture, rivaling even the colossal structures of countless eras later.

The exterior walls, constructed of intricately carved Jazz White marble, are two kilometers high and covered with purplish-red veins.

The massive flying buttresses are sculpted in the shape of winged Angel, extending from the building, which resembles a mountain bedrock, with outstretched arms raised to the sky in a pleading gesture.

The perimeter walls of the entire observatory are decorated with depictions of the great pioneers in the history of astronomy and their numerous achievements.

The niches and statues enshrine figures such as Agnik, Sakov, the heliocentric pagan, Hypatia, the Scania Alchemist, Suleima, and the Mother of Comets, each possessing legendary scientific achievements worthy of being enshrined here.

An ancient telescope, once used by the Emperor to observe distant galaxies, hangs on an iron chain directly above the dome, its Obsidian lens gleaming with a deep, eerie light under the sunlight.

Nimrod took the lead and stepped upwards, walking along the 300-meter-wide steps made of Auslate stone towards the grand entrance.

"The Primarch!"

Exclamations of surprise rang out at the entrance, and people stared at the tall figure approaching, as if they were in a dream.

A moment later, the giant's shadow enveloped their bodies.

"I want to go to the observatory."

"Of course..." the observatory researcher stammered, "I'll inform the director right away and have him come to assist me."

"No need," Nimrod shook his head slightly, "I will summon him if needed."

With that, the Primarch stepped past the crowd and entered the Grand Observatory.

Nimrod walked past four observation rooms but found nothing.

As he entered the fifth observation room, a sudden inspiration struck him.